A Pinch of Devil's Touch

Years of dodging tankards, tea saucers, and unwanted cats meant Maxwell had honed his reflexes to a fine, incomparable art form. While this skill comes in quite useful with the town bullies, it also saves his head from being smashed inwards by a rusty hoe as once, quiet Rory jumps from a patch of juniper bushes shouting, “Death to all Imperials!”

To make matters worse, whatever turned Rory crazy soon affects the rest of the town children and the adults refuse to listen. Maxwell, only a mere apprentice farmatologist, must rely on his studies to find an antidote. But to save the town means not only facing Rory and the other children… but also exposing himself to the Devil’s Touch.